Trump defends immigration order in speech to military personnel

With his executive order designed to slow refugee and other immigration admissions into the United States on hold in the courts, President Trump on Monday strongly defended his effort to slow immigration arrivals to the United States from certain nations, as he vowed to confront Islamic terrorists, whom he says “are determined to strike our homeland.”

“We need strong programs, so that people that love us and want to love our country, and will end up loving our country, are allowed in,” the President said in a speech to military personnel at MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa.

“We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and not allow it to take root in our country – not going to allow it,” Mr. Trump added, still waiting to see what the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals would do with his immigration plan.

Pres Trump at MacDill Air Force Base: "We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism & we will not allow it to take root in our country" @fox5dc

In the same remarks, the President accused the press corps, of not reporting on terror attacks in Europe.

“In many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that,” Mr. Trump said, without offering any evidence of when the press has ignored a terrorist attack in Europe.

As for Mr. Trump’s executive order, the White House was simply waiting to see what would happen next in the legal wrangling over his effort to stop refugee admissions for 120 days, and suspend any visits to the U.S. by people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

In the meantime, the rules were back to what they were before Mr. Trump signed his executive order on January 27, as people with legal visas and paperwork were again being allowed to enter the U.S.

For example, on Monday at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., Aqel Aziz was able to welcome his 19 and 21 year old sons from Yemen; last week, they had been turned back as part of the new enforcement effort of the Trump order.

“I’m so happy I’m so glad, Aziz told reporters at Dulles as he praised the U.S.

“America is for everybody, for everybody; thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said, with his sons standing next to him.

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